TORONTO, June 19, 2008 -- York University will confer an honorary doctor of laws degree on business leader and environmental policy activist Charles Hantho, on Friday, June 20, 2008.

 

“Charles Hantho’s pioneering work in the area of corporate environmental responsibility is in keeping with York’s strong focus on issues of sustainability,” said York University President and Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri. “We place a great value on environmental policy and research, and we’re proud to honour him with this degree.”

Hantho spent most of his career in the chemical and primary textile industries, rising through the ranks to become president, chairman and chief executive officer of both CIL (now ICI Canada) and Dominion Textiles. As Chair of the Canadian Chemical Producers’ Association in the 1980s, Hantho was instrumental in creating a program that targeted the environmental accountability of Canadian chemical producers. A graduate of the University of Alberta’s Bachelor of Science program in chemical engineering, he is currently Chair of the Board of Camco Inc. and Hamilton Utilities Corporation.

 

In 1997, he received the Order of Canada for his contributions to the safe production and handling of chemicals in Canada, and around the world.

Hantho continues to champion environmental responsibility in his professional life. Contributing his experience form the manufacturing sector, he currently serves on the Board of the International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD) and sits on the Advisory Committee for the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. Until recently, he served as co-Chair of The Industry Table on Climate Change and Chair of the Minister’s Advisory Council on Industrial Energy Efficiency for the Department of Natural Resources. He is a former Chairman and director of Dofasco Inc, and former Vice-Chairman of the Business Council on National Issues.

A long-serving member of York’s Board of Governors, Hantho was appointed an Honorary Governor in 1994, and is also a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Schulich School of Business.

 

Hantho will receive his honorary doctor of laws degree during the 10:30 a.m. Schulich School of Business ceremony.

 

Ceremonies are held in the convocation pavilion on York's Keele Campus (located at 4700 Keele Street), between Osgoode Hall Law School and the Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies. For a campus map, click here.

 

For a complete listing of the ceremony schedule, click here. York University’s spring convocation ceremonies will be streamed live over the Internet.

 

York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 200,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 11 faculties and 24 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.

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Contact:

Media Relations, York University, 416 736 5585 / media@yorku.ca